Beate Zschaepe, a member of the neo-Nazi group National Socialist Underground (Image: REUTERS)

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AN alleged killer described as a 'Nazi-bride' appeared in court amid tight security in Germany today as a high-profile murder trial started.

Beate Zschaepe is at the centre of the case that has gripped the nation since the 38-year-old and four other alleged neo-Nazis were arrested more than a year ago.

Zschaepe is accused of complicity in the murder of eight Turks, a Greek and a policewoman between 2000 and 2007.

Prosecutors say the aim of the execution-style killings was to spread fear among immigrants and prompt them to leave Germany.

She is also accused of involvement in at least two bombings and 15 bank robberies carried out by her accomplices Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, who died in an apparent murder-suicide in November 2011.

The NSU cell remained undetected until Ms Zschaepe gave herself up after police discovered the bodies of Mundlos and Boenhardt.

After their deaths, the gun used in the murders of the 10 people was discovered.

Police erected security barriers outside the court in Munich this morning in anticipation of protests by far-right extremist groups and left-wing rivals.

Hundreds of reporters also queued outside in the hope of gaining one of the few available seats in the packed courtroom for the start of a trial scheduled to last for more than a year.

The case sparked controversy as police wrongly blamed the Turkish mafia for the deaths.

The head of Germany's domestic intelligence service was eventually forced to resign over the scandal.

It also emerged that intelligence files on far-right extremists were destroyed after the cell's activities came to light.

Critics have accused authorities of turning a blind eye to the crimes of right-wing extremists.

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On trial with Zschaepe are four male defendants who are accused of assisting the National Socialist Underground gang in various ways.

Ralf Wohlleben, 38, and Carsten Schultze, 33, are accused of being accessories to murder in the killing of the nine men. Prosecutors allege that they supplied the trio with the weapons and silencers used in the killings.

Andre Eminger, 33, is accused of being an accessory in two of the bank robberies and in a 2001 bombing in Cologne's old town. He is also accused of two counts of supporting a terrorist organization.

Holger Gerlach, 39, is accused of three counts of supporting a terrorist organization.

Like Zschaepe, the co-defendants were known to German authorities before the existence of the National Socialist Underground came to light.

Many in Germany have asked how the country's well-funded security services, with their network of informants in the blossoming far-right scene, could have overlooked the group's existence for so long.

For years, police maintained the immigrant victims must have been involved with Turkish gangs linked to gambling and drugs.

Families of those killed and survivors of the bomb attacks in particular have said they are hoping not just for justice, but answers to questions such as how the group chose its victims, none of whom were high-profile targets.

One of Zschaepe's three lawyers has claimed that his client faces "execution by media."

Wolfgang Stahl said that Zschaepe was being portrayed as "evil incarnate, a murderer, a member of a murder gang, a Nazi bride or a Nazi killer" in a way that could prejudice the trial judges.

Her lawyers have said she will remain silent during the lengthy trial.